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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

"Ron Sims' growth machine"?

There's an interesting post on local growth management over at the Sound Politics Public blogs. One would assume that it would detail the unfeeling environmental bureaucracy over at King County, how they roll over rural landowners who just want to do with their land what they want. Rather, its a short example of how often times when landowners want to preserver the rural feel of their community, there is nothing local government can do about it. Despite what some folks say.

With my councilmember gagged within the convenient "quasi-judicial" straightjacket surrounding land use decisions, forbidding her to even discuss related issues with here constituents, it's clear that Mr. Spohr is just one more cog in Ron Sims' growth machine. Citizens still have no means to challenge the systemic wrongdoing within this government that occurs every day. The creation of the new Rural Ombudsman is just the latest cruel joke in support of King County's false interest in responding to rural concerns.

Quadrant, KCDOT and King County DDES have sued the King County Hearing Examiner over his recommendation to the King County Council to deny Redmond Ridge East and rescind its 2002 traffic concurrency certificate. Several King County DOT whistleblowers are currently in Federal Court alleging, among other things, retaliation against them by their managers after they refused to go along with what they believed were improper and even illegal acts committed by the King County Concurrency Group to help Quadrant obtain a certificate to allow 800 more homes along Novelty Hill Road east of Redmond. Novelty Hill Road has been operating above design capacity for several years now.

King County government has stolen our land, our money, our trust, our votes, our freedom and our liberty. How 15,000 people can work for such corrupt leadership is beyond me. Ignorance and apathy are the only pillars that hold up the administration of Executive Ron Sims and his council and DDES.

So, if I-933 gives developers more leeway with local government, how many more situations like what the Sound Politics blogger above described will come down the pipe?